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History of Arthur Stephen Wood

Arthur Stephen Wood
Born: 27 Jan 1877 at Cedar City, Iron, Utah, USA
Parents: Samuel Wood and Josephine Catherine Chatterley
Married: Nancy Genevieve Decker, 12 April 1899 at Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Died: 19 March 1954 at Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah

Life Sketch: Arthur Stephen Wood

Arthur Stephen Wood was born January 27, 1877 in Cedar City, Iron County, Utah, to Samuel and Josephine Catherine Chatterley Wood. Arthur was the third child in a family of ten children— five boys and five girls.

The Wood family was well established in Cedar City in a fine home, which Sam had built before their marriage. Sam was engaged in farming, livestock raising, and freighting, when a "call" came from the church for certain families to go to the San Juan territory.

While this mission was envisioned by Brigham Young, calls came from his replacement, John Taylor—President of the LDS Church—through Apostle Erastus Snow. The plan was to establish communities of young families who could adapt to adverse conditions, and who could be depended upon to develop the country and make friends with the Indians—mostly of the Navajo and the Paiute tribes.

Sam and Jody, as Arthur's parents were known throughout their lives (Jody was later to become "Aunt Jody" to all who knew her), were devoted members of the church. Their parents had immigrated from England for the church, and the Church was the way of life for them. When it was known that the names of families which would be called to the San Juan Mission would be read at stake dsconference, Jody—who was so afraid their names would be called—stayed home, but Sam went and when he returned he said: "We were called and we will go.”

It was impossible for the Wood family to leave with the first company, which left Cedar City in the fall of 1879, and went through the notorious "Hole-in-theRock." The second group, which left in late October 1882, was advised that another route would be less perilous, but it turned out to be just as hazardous and terrifying at times as the route the first group had taken.

By this time, six children had been born to the Wood family:
Samuel Franklin, born April 11, 1873; died October 5, 1874
Joseph Henry, born March 8, 1875
Arthur Stephen, born January 27, 1877
John Morton, born June 3, 1879
Mary Ann, born March 11, 1880; died July 19, 1881
Sarah Jane (Jennie), born July 3, 1882

The baby girl, known as "Jennie" throughout her life, was just three and a half months old when they started on the almost "impossible journey" to San Juan.

There were four other families who went with this second group: those of Charles Wilden, Alvin Smith, David Adams, and Frederick I. Jones. Hyrum Perkins had been sent from Bluff to be their captain and to pilot them to Bluff where the first group had settled.

Jody kept somewhat of a record of their travels. The following quote is just one of the many entries in her journal. At Hall's crossing, they had what they called a raft for crossing the Colorado River. It was a rough floor built on two boats, and onto this they drove one wagon at a time. On the 4th of November, 1882, Jody wrote: Wow, it is our turn. Oh, pray for us! The raft was pushed up onto the bank. Brother Fred Jones was driving my children and I in the wagon. We drove onto the raft and the wagon was securely tied to it with ropes. The men started to rowing and down the raft and all went into the water with a splash. My heart went faint. I went blind and clung to my babies. I shall never forget my feeling as we went down into the water, and my fear of the wagon going off into the swift-flowing water. Before we started I asked Fred to nail the cover down on all sides so that if we were drowned we would all go together, and he did. When the treacherous river was safely crossed, we did thank our Heavenly Father.

Then, as they arrived in Bluff, Jody wrote her last entry of the trip: We are happy to get to Bluff. Our horses are tired out and so are we, but we got here alive. The Lord was surely with us.

Sam began at once to build himself and family a home and get established in the land, which proved to be their future home. Although Bluff was very much isolated and naturally a very uninviting place for a man to build a home for himself and family, the people, having accepted the call from their leader, went to work as only a colony of Mormons can, and built a veritable oasis in the desert. Making out of it a very pleasant and desirable place to live, Bluff had a climate that permitted the production of the most delicious fruits, vegetables, and wild flowers blooming the year 'round in the caves in the surrounding canyons.

The pioneers of Bluff were men and women of exceptionally strong characters. Many built beautiful and substantial homes and prospered in the land.

Arthur was five years old when they arrived in Bluff. Because he was small, he was nicknamed "Kid." Four more children were born to this family: George William (Bud), born February 23, 1885
Catherine Josephine (Kate), born May 3, 1887
Alice Charlotte, born April 18, 1890
Bernice Corlett, born September 25, 1894

On November 5, 1885, Sam married a second wife, Emma Louise Elliker. Two children were born to this marriage:
Leroy, born October 2, 1886
Mary Elizabeth (Lizzie), born October 2, 1889

The two families were like one big family, and lived together in harmony and love.

The older brothers, Henry and Arthur, were close throughout their lives. As youngsters, they were great teases and played many funny tricks, they thought, on members of the family. For instance: After their sisters had scrubbed the wooden floor in the large family kitchen, these boys, if there was any mud around, would walk in the mud getting all they could on their shoes, then walk all over the clean floor—leaving mud wherever they stepped. Another example: Germade mush was a part of every pioneer breakfast. One morning, there was some mush left in the kettle on the kitchen stove. Arthur and Henry started dipping their hands in the mush and wiping them on the girls' long hair. Soon, all were running around the large family table—the boys chasing the girls—and every time the boys passed the stove they would gather another supply of mush and on the girls' hair it would go. After a while their father, coming in the door, called a halt. As the boys passed their father on the way out they dumped their handful of mush on his long beard.

Arthur liked sports of all kinds. While he was still a boy, he had a pony which he trained to run 50 yards to a mark on the ground, then turn around and run back with a rider on him—usually Arthur. He had races against boys and men who thought they could outrun his pony. He would bet on his pony and usually win. Sometimes, he would win a nickel, or quarter, or something. It was a good sport and fairly profitable for him in those days. Much later, Arthur managed a young Monticello wrestler, Claude Young. Arthur arranged matches in the surrounding towns—Moab, Mancos, and Cortez. Claude was a good wrestler and often won. Once, when a match was set up in Mancos, Claude was way ahead in points when the referee suddenly called the match, picked up the gate receipts, and left town.

As the children of the early Bluff families grew up, there were quite a few young people near the same age. Most evenings, a group would gather at one home or another. If there was music, they would dance; if not, they would play games and have refreshments. Arthur liked Jennie (Nancy Genevieve) Decker, and she liked him. When Arthur was called on an LDS Mission to Kentucky, he couldn't bear the thought of leaving Jennie to be courted by the other young men. She was beautiful and talented, and very popular. She was a good singer and played the mandolin. She was also a talented dressmaker and made herself many pretty clothes. She was fun-loving, and Arthur was in love with her. He decided they should be married before he left for his mission and Jennie agreed. They drove to Salt Lake City and were married in the Salt Lake Temple on April 12, 1899. Arthur left for his mission the next day. In those days, it took two weeks by horse to drive to Salt So, Jennle's slster, Lillian went along as chaperone. When Jennle returned to Bluff, one of the young men said she had ruined his life by marrying Arthur instead of him. Arthur filled an honorable mlsslon. His son, Paul, has his missionary journal.

Arthur was very good with young people. He worked as an officer in the Young Mens' Mutual Improvement Association for many years, as Ward Superintendent, and then as Stake Superintendent. As Stake Superintendent, he traveled to surrounding towns—Moab, Utah; Farmington, New Mexico; Bloomington, Cortez, and Mancos, Colorado. It would take about two or more weeks to cover this territory. He loved to take Jennie with him on these trips. On one trip when Jennie was with him, a lightning storm came up suddenly and lightning struck their wagon.

Paul says of this:
"My mother held the baby and 'shocked' and the baby fell off her lap. The horses were frightened and ran with the wagon. She grabbed the reins and controlled and calmed the horses, and they looked for near neighbors." Arthur's leg and undergarments had been badly burned. Kind neighbors took care of them until they could travel again.

Quoting Paul again: "My mother looked for something in the granary in Monticello. She found and showed me one glove which had been damaged—about a half glove—and burned around the edge of the glove by the lightning." Arthur had another experience with lightning. He, and Claude and Elmer Decker, were "fixing fence" when a rainstorm came up. They went for shelter under a tree and lightning hit the tree and "busted" them out from under it.

Arthur was called to serve a mission in the Southern States Mission of the Church of Jesus Crhist of Latter-day Saints, for which he was ‘set-apart’ 12 April 1899 by Elder Rudger Clawson, who had previously served in that mission. A year after Arthur went on his mission his brother Henry left on his mission to the Northern States Mission, where he served in Missouri. Henry had been called on a mission earlier, but due to the fact that he had signed up to go to Cuba to serve in the Spanish-American war, his mission had been held over. As soon as he returned from Cuba, he advised the church he was ready to go on a mission. He was called to serve in Missouri (18 April 1900 - 1 December 1900) Arthur returned 7 April 1901 It was while these brothers were on their respective missions that their baby sister, Bernice, died from meningitis. They were both saddened by her death as they both knew how much this little girl meant to their mother.

Soon after Henry returned from his mission, Arthur and Henry decided to go into the livestock business. The livestock business was the leading business and about the only one in Bluff. They looked around for cattle for sale and found a man in Wayne County who wanted to sell a bunch of cows. They made arrangements to buy them. The cattle were delivered at Hall's Crossing, which was on the other side of the Colorado River. How to get a herd of cattle across the river was a problem. The following paragraphs are quoted from Henry's journal: “After the cattle had been counted and delivered over to us, we drove them up the river bottom to where the bank of the river and the cliff came together and then forced the cows to take the water, which they did after considerable persuasion, a few of the leaders leading the way and the remainder following in a long curved line. They presented a very beautiful picture.

“Arthur was mounted on his beautiful black horse named Jock, and a beautiful swimmer. He followed the leaders into the river, swimming just below them to prevent them from turning back. They took a course a little down stream, but reached a good landing and went out on the opposite side in good shape. We considered ourselves very fortunate in getting them over so successfully. Oftentimes, a bunch of stock of this kind will swim to the center of the river and then get confused and go in all directions. The swimming distance at this point was about three hundred yards.”

They decided on the brand "HK", the "H" for Henry and the "K" for Kid. Later, they each had their own cattle. Henry kept the HK brand, Arthur's brand was the barbed wire fence » ////. In 1906, they decided to sell their cattle and devote their time to farming. Later, they went into the cattle business again, but not as joint owners.

The people of Bluff had many interesting experiences with the Indians—some were friendly and some were frightening. Sometimes, the young Indian boys would come to town and play ball and wrestle with the young Bluff boys. Pinion pine trees grew abundantly in San Juan. The Indians would gather the pine nuts In the fall and take them to town in gunny sacks and trade them for equal amounts of flour. These pine nuts were a real treat for the people— especially the children who spent many an evening around the fireplace cracking and eating pine nuts. Arthur's mother, Aunt Jody, was the nurse of the San Juan Mission and would care for the Indians when they needed her help. She, in turn, learned about many healing herbs from the Indians.

The Indians didn't seem to understand that they should not take whatever they wanted from the Bluff residents. They especially liked the riding horses and would watch for an opportunity to steal them. Arthur had been elected sheriff in 1903 and during the summer of 1904, he had an unusual experience with the Indians, who were known as the Paiute tribe (called Utes for short. Paiute is occasionally spelled Piute, which is incorrect).

There was bunch of renegade Utes who had left their reservation and located in San Juan County. The citizens of San Juan had made several requests to have them returned to their reservations, but the Indian officials were unable, or more probably did not care to force the Indians back. They became quite a menace. At this time, they had stolen some horses and the sheriff, in cooperation with the people of Bluff, decided that it was time to put a stop to their lawless operations. So, they planned an attack and went to the Indian camp to take the guilty bucks. The Indians were expecting them and the whole camp, squaws and all, resisted the arrest.

The whites, being in the majority, were able to get possession of the Indians' guns and so prevented any shooting. They then overpowered the bucks and took them in custody, letting the squaws who had made quite a fight with clubs and sticks, remain in camp. The officials and citizens felt very much relieved at the culmination of this affray, as it looked for a few minutes as if there was going to be bloodshed.

The preliminary hearings showed that Posey, a leader and naturally a bad Indian, was the guilty party, so he was held and others turned loose. Posey, who was the chief of the Paiute Indians, was put in the custody of Jim Decker, who had been appointed by Arthur as a special deputy for this case. Jim would lock his prisoner up at night and take him out during the day— guarded at gunpoint.

Posey was very sly. He said he needed a bath in the river. Jim's answer was "NO!", but Posey coaxed, promising to just go in on the edge of the river. Jim agreed that Posey needed a bath, and after much more coaxing he agreed, but said he would shoot if Posey went beyond the edge. Posey promised, but after he had splashed around a while he dove under the water and when he came up he was away and heading for the other side of the river. Jim shot several times, but Posey kept on swimming and escaped. However, one bullet had struck him and Chief Posey always walked with a limp thereafter.

Arthur was a good farmer. He had an alfalfa and grain farm east of Monticello where he raised feed for his cattle and livestock during the winter. Claude Decker said Arthur raised the best alfalfa crop in the country—the richest field per acre.

Arthur and Jennie were a very affectionate and loving couple. Once when Arthur had just returned after being away for a week or so, Jennie's mother sent her son Claude to see how he was. When Claude returned she asked, “Well, how was he?”

Claude said, “Aw, there was just a lot of huggin’ and kissin’.”

When diphtheria hit the Decker family in December of 1901 and January of 1902, it took Jennie's father James B. Decker, Sr., her sister Mary Gertrude, and her brothers Lynn, Clair, and Horace. Jennie and Arthur took the two-year-old baby, Ottis Afton, and cared for him during this most traumatic time. The Decker family was the only family hit by this most dreaded disease.

Arthur and Jennie had three children. Their first child, a baby girl, was named Marie Josephine after her two grandmothers— Josephine Catherine (Aunt Jody) Wood, and Anna Marie Decker. Marie was born December 1, 1903 in Bluff. She was a great joy to her parents and a great strength to them throughout their lives. A son, Reed Arthur, was born May 11, 1907, in Monticello. When Reed was about five years old, he was whittling and the knife slipped and went into his eye. Infection set in. They went to Chicago for help where their brother-in-law, Frank Hammond, was a doctor. Everything was done that could be done, but Reed's other eye became affected also and resulted in his blindness. This was a great sorrow to the family, but Reed who had been so spirited and active, was still spirited and active. He had a pony which he could saddle and bridle. He rode his pony to take the cows to pasture each morning and bring them back at night. One day while returning the cows from the pasture, Reed pressured his horse into a run and not being able to see, he reigned his horse into one of the cows and his horse fell and rolled on him. He never regained consciousness and died on the 14th of August 1919. The family mourned. His mother went into depression and could not smile for months.

Arthur, at one time, decided to study medicine and become a doctor. He went to the Utah Agricultural College at Logan. With so much reading to do his eyes would get tired. When this would happen, Jennie would read the lessons to him. However, after a year, he decided not to pursue the medical profession on account of his eyes.

It was while Arthur was attending school at Logan that his father became seriously ill, and it had been recommended that they bring him from Monticello to Salt Lake City. Arthur came to Salt Lake City to be with his father. Sam was operated on and the doctors said the operation was a success, but he died on April 10, 1910, and was taken home for burial in the Bluff City Cemetery.

On August 2, 1915, a second son, Paul Decker Wood, was born. Paul had a hearing problem, but throughout his life he was a great help to his father and mother. He attended the School for the Deaf in Ogden, Utah, and graduated with honors. Paul was active in school sports—a very excellent basketball player, and a good leader. He became the Bishop of the Deaf Branch of the LDS Church in Salt Lake City. Paul married Marjorie Johnson, who was also a student at the deaf school. They have two sons, Arthur Paul (Art), and Thomas Decker (Tom). Both boys have responsible positions in the business world.

Marie married Knox Patterson, a lawyer and State legislator. After his death, she married Lee A. Hansen. They moved to Laguna Hills, California where Marie died on the 4th of January, 1976.

In Monticello, Arthur served as Sheriff and Deputy Sheriff of San Juan County for six years. He was Justice of the Peace and County Attorney during the outlaw days. He fought to subdue the last Indian uprising in the United States, that of the Ute Indians in San Juan County.

In March of 1924, Arthur went to Salt Lake City to work as a carpenter. Henry had moved his family to Salt Lake City in 1923 for schooling purposes, but found there was a need for carpenters as the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad was building a new roundhouse and machine shops. Henry was working there as a carpenter and told Arthur he could get a job if he wanted to. Arthur came to Salt Lake and was immediately put to work. The wages were $9.00 a day—and sometimes with overtime it would be more. Once, Arthur worked twenty hours for $24.00. He worked as a carpenter in Salt Lake City for about a year, and then returned to Monticello where he worked as a head carpenter on many important projects.

Eventually, Arthur and Jennie decided to sell their Monticello holdings and move to Salt Lake City where they would be near their children. At this time, Paul was working in Salt Lake and Mari e and her husband were also in Salt Lake.

Arthur built two homes in Monticello. Their original home burned down and he built a lovely home in its place. He and Jennie collaborated in the planning and their home had many conveniences that were not found in the ordinary home. Then, they built another home a block away.

In Salt Lake, Arthur built another home with Jennie helping in the planning. Again, their home had many built-in conveniences not found in the ordinary home.

Ridell Barton, who grew up in Monticello and lived there until 1945, said Arthur was the best Sunday School teacher he ever, ever had.

Arthur Stephen Wood died March 19, 1954 in Salt Lake City, Utah. At his funeral, Oscar W. McConkie—a former Monticello Bishop and longtime friend—spoke and said that when he was Bishop, he never asked Arthur to do anything that he refused to do, and he did it very well.

Written several years ago by Joseph Earl Wood, a nephew
Editing and additions by Paul Decker Wood,a son—1982
SPECIAL REMEMBRANCES OF MI FAVORITE UNCLE—ARTHUR STEPHEN WOOD
By Joseph Earl Wood

He was kind, jovial, friendly, and always had a smile on his face and a sparkle in his eyes. He was a contented and happy family man. He was a hard worker and kind to his animals, which he always had in his corral and barn nearby.

There were no barbers in Monticello in the early years, and Uncle Arthur would come to our home where my Dad would cut his hair and then Arthur would cut Dad's hair. They usually talked business during these times. I remember him teaching Sunday School. I was in his class.

In the winter of 1917-18, Arthur and Dad were wintering their cattle in Dry Valley and on Wilson Mesa. This proved to be one of the worst winters in San Juan's history. The summer had been unusually dry and not enough hay had been grown to feed the cattle during the winter. The snow came early and was deep, and remained until late spring. Dad found some hay for sale at Wilson Mesa, thirty miles east of Moab, Utah, and about ninety miles from Monticello. Arthur, Dad, and their brother Roy, decided to drive their cattle there and feed them with hay which cost $12.00 per ton. The cattle were divided into two groups. I fed one herd of about 225, and Roy fed the others of about 330 head. Arthur and Dad worked out of Monticello gathering stray cattle that didn't get into the herd going to Wilson Mesa. My brother, Clair, fed them in Monticello.

The next winter, the cattle were taken to Montezuma Canyon and vicinity, mostly east of the canyon onto Cedar Point, which was a mesa. It was here they had a pasture for saddle horses and had cabin to stay in. One day, Dad was badly hurt when he was getting on a mule that rared over backward and crushed Dad's shoulder between the saddle horn and a tree. Dad had to give up riding and I went in his place with Uncle Arthur for over a year, which I enjoyed very much, and I think he liked me working with him. He told Jennie, and Jennie told my mother, that he would and much rather work with me than with Dad.

Arthur was a very good story-teller. One story he told was:
He was riding with a fellow named Dave. They were moving camp one day when Dave's large dog ate some bacon rind that had been thrown out and he choked on it and apparently died, so they had to leave him. The dog's name was "Yall." That evening, at their new camp, they saw a large wolf trotting through the bushes not far from their camp. They each got a rifle and climbed up on top of the dugout cabin. The roof was mostly flat and covered with dirt, as the dugout cabins were built then. They thought the roof would give them more protection from the wolf than being on the ground, so with their rifles extending past the roof's edge and they on their stomachs, they were watching for the wolf to show up again. All at once, he jumped onto the roof between the rifles and about frightened them to death. Then, Dave hollered out, "Yall, you SOB!" The dog had recovered and followed them to the new camp.

Another experience was:
Arthur was riding high up on the side of a canyon rim and it became dark before he could get down. Using discretion, he decided to stay there over night rather than take a chance on his horse falling off the rim into the canyon below. He found a small area where his horse could eat some grass. He took the saddle off the horse, then used his lasso rope to tie the horse up by tying one end around the horse's front foot, and the other around a tree. During the night, a lion found them and let out a screeching roar. Horses are afraid of lions! The horse started running 'till it came to the end of the rope and then fell down. After several falls, Arthur decided to build a fire, which frightened the lion away. He was afraid the horse would break a leg or his neck.

One thing which Uncle Arthur taught me, which I always remember, is how to count cattle by fives. That is: 5, 10, 15, etc. Pick out three and two, or one and four, etc. It was much more accurate than by ones. I also count people that way now, and have throughout my life whenever the occasion required.

Source:
Samuel Wood Family, December 1982. Arthur Stephen Wood Chapter.

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Arthur Stephen Wood












Arthur Stephen Wood

Nancy Decker Wood












Nancy Genevieve "Jennie" Decker